First order of business today was visiting the conference and trying to get my money back for my plane flight. I arrived, hassled a bunch of people, and eventually met the guy in charge of conference. He gave me about the worst possible scenario: that they hadn’t heard of either of the two guys who contacted me, that they were completely unaffiliated with the conference, and they had no idea how these guys got their hands on an official speakers contract.
Not good. I got the phone number of the head guy and he promised me he would look around and try to track down “Eddie”, the guy who promised me I could expense my flight. He offered to let me stay for the conference, but I figured I’d rather see Munich.
Especially considering that half the speeches were in German.
Instead, I decided to go to ZAM (the Zentrum fur Aussergewohnliche Museen – Center for Unusual Museums) and do it right. I had woken up early, got the address, and upon arriving discovered that the museum closed two years ago. This is where it used to be.
I pondered the tiny spaces that people parallel park in over here. EVERY space is like this!
Just as I started to feel really disappointed about ZAM, a huge protest wandered by. I couldn’t understand what it was about, so I joined in.
Afterwards, I was thirsty, so I got a soda. I still don’t know exactly what flavor it was. Mmm… “holunderâ€.
I marveled at Munich’s “Call a bike†program. Apparently there are bikes just left standing all over the city that you can rent out by swiping a key card.
Next was a trip to see the stunning opulence of the Residenz museum, the former home of very important Münchners.
This room was particularly interesting. The ceiling was an optical illusion, painted to make it look as though the room was much taller than it actually is. But the perspective only works in you’re standing in the exact center of the floor…
On the way home, I discovered a store devoted to completely useless items. Tiny magnetic pieces of plastic that cling together to make a wall hanging, blankets that were 50% wool, 50% cotton, and 100% uncomfortable, USB-powered reading lights, bicycle inner-tube belts, futuristic forks – the store had it all. What a brilliant concept!
And I finished the day at the Atomic Cafe, where I discovered that loud live concerts are difficult places to carry on conversations with people who don’t speak your language.
After freezing my ass off yesterday, I started today the smart way: by buying a long wool coat, a hat, gloves, and a scarf. That was followed by a visit to the Viktualian market to sample traditional German tourist food. You can have anything you want, as long as it’s brown. Bonus points if it’s fried or tube-shaped.
I saw a street performer… playing the piano!
And watched the glockenspiel (a glorified mechanical cuckoo clock in the town hall tower) at Marienplatz. It was… underwhelming. 15 minutes of my life I will never get back. As my tour guide later tells us, “Don’t bother. You can’t un-see the glockenspiel.â€
After that came my day’s big event – Mike’s Bike Tour! Recommended by both my host and the MTV Guide to Europe, how could I resist?
I rode around Munich on a sweet cruiser bike.
I took many lopsided photos while riding, some over my shoulder.
I dined on sausage and fried dough in an outdoor combination beergarden/Chinese teahouse.
I watched surfers ride the “endless wave†in the Englischer Garten. I love the “surfing and swimming forbidden†sign. As my guide explained, it’s not that surfing is forbidden – the cops come and wave to him while he’s surfing every morning – it’s just so that if someone hurts themselves the city can say they told the surfer not to. This will be a recurring theme in my visit…
After the tour I soaked up more local culture, including the European version of “Forever 21â€.
The streets are filled with the scent of hot cinnamon candied nuts.
And I saw my first German protest. More on German protests tomorrow.
This whole trip to Europe was sparked by an invitation to speak at a conference. Unfortunately, the invitation was later rescinded, along with the offer to pay for my flight and accommodation, leaving me with a non-refundable plane ticket to Munich.
There are worse things in life than being forced to take a European vacation.
I found lodging in Munich from a friend of a friend, arrived early Wednesday afternoon and promptly fell asleep until Thursday morning. I’m a little behind on my travel journal, so here, approximately a week late, begins my report from Munich…
Day 1
Friday was spent sightseeing. I meant to go to the ZAM, or Zentrum fur Aussergewohnliche Museen (Centre for Unusual Museums, including a chamber pot museum, easter bunny museum, and museum of scents). Instead, I discovered instead how tourist-unfriendly Munich is. I didn’t find the ZAM, but did run into the Viktualian Market (a huge expanse of food stalls, closed today for a national holiday), Marienplatz (tourist central), and David Beckham. Watching the entire block grind to a standstill to stare at him made me very glad that I am only a has-been D-list celeb.
The road to Marienplatz is a huge pedestrian thoroughfare, lined with shops. And with today a national holiday, the street was packed with people. Interestingly, since today was a national holiday, every single shop was closed. Apparently in Munich, people enjoy being outside just for the sake of being outside.
On my way home, I saw a crowd of people waiting outside a hotel to catch of glimpe of the other celebs in town for the evening’s MTV Music Awards.
For dinner, I stopped at a bar and ordered wienerschnitzel. I asked for tap water, which I got, but I was told I could only have a small glass since it was free. The picture doesn’t do the cup justice. It was marked as a 0.1 L cup, or approximately two shots of water.
Hooray for non-beige food!
Two hours of sleep later and I’m in Madrid. I think. I’m so out of it that if you told me I was in Kathmandu I’d probably believe you. Thank God for siesta…
